******
The words swirled around in Stone’s mind. Every swear word in the book. How could he have been so stupid? He’d actually thought he’d fallen in love when all he’d been was seduced by a green-eyed witch who turned his insides to mush.
Love? He would never believe in that crap again.
He threw open the closet and began to rip his clothes down from the hangers. He dragged a duffel bag from behind the shirts and threw it onto the bed. There was no way he was going to stay here tonight. He’d told Indie he’d arrange for a ride for her but he would book a driver for himself, too. Even after she was gone this place would remind him too much of her.
Then he paused and stared ahead with glazed eyes. Now he’d have to do the dirty work. He had his parents to call, his brother and sister, his friends. Flights would have to be cancelled, caterers told not to come, the minister to explain things to. Jesus, what a mess!
He was muttering to himself as he turned back toward the bed with his clothes strewn all over it when he looked up and there in the doorway stood Indie.
Stone straightened and stared at her. “What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice cold.
She took a step forward then stopped. “Can we talk?”
He almost laughed at that. “We have nothing to talk about.”
“You need to hear what I have to say.”
“Why? I owe you nothing.” He glared at her then shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away. He couldn’t bear looking at her. She’d trampled his heart into the dust even though she knew he loved her. And, God help him, he still did.
“You hurt me, Indie,” he said, his voice a low rasp. “Real bad. How can I ever trust you again?”
“Just hear me out, Stone. Please.”
When he looked over at her she was staring at him with huge eyes, sad eyes. Despite his resolve his heart reached out to her. But still, he said nothing.
She drew in a breath then continued. “What you heard was totally out of context. I can’t blame you for what you thought. I can’t even blame you for being angry. But it’s not what you think.”
“Oh?” This was going to be good. What story was she going to cook up now?
“No, it’s not.”
Her voice was bolder now. She was probably thinking she could use her acting skills on him, worm her way back into his good graces. Well, it wasn’t going to happen.
“I’m going to tell you the whole story and if you want to be angry afterward, then fine. But you deserve to know the truth.”
“I appreciate that,” he said, and he did not hold the sarcasm from his voice.
“The money I was talking about wasn’t yours. It was left to me by my uncle.”
He frowned. “Come again?”
She sighed. “I think I’d better start at the beginning.” She glanced over at the armchair in the corner. “Do you mind?”
He shrugged. “Be my guest. I’m looking forward to hearing your story.” He placed deliberate emphasis on the last word.
She walked over to the chair and sank into it with a sigh. Then she spoke. “On September twenty-three, exactly a month before my birthday, I was told by my late uncle’s attorney that he’d left me fourteen million dollars. That’s the money I was talking about.”
“Fourteen mil-” Stone glared at her. “What do you take me for? A fool?”
“No, it’s true. I can give you Mr. Marshall’s number and you can call him yourself.” She sat stiffly in the chair as she stared up at him.
“So what does that have to do with me marrying you?” Stone demanded, still not believing a word of what she was saying. “You said something about me proposing to you in a month.”
Indie sighed. “That’s the part…I’m not so proud of.” She looked down at her hands then she looked back at him, her face resolute. “There was a condition to my getting the fourteen million dollars. I had to get married by my thirtieth birthday in order to get the money.”
Stone almost laughed. “That’s crazy.”
“I know, but that’s what the will says. My uncle wanted to make sure I didn’t carry through on my threat never to get married or have kids. He wanted to maintain the bloodline and I’m the only hope.”
“So you seduced me into marriage.”
“No,” she said quickly then, “well, yes. Sort of. It started out that way, where I was trying to get you to like me because…I already liked you.”
Stone frowned. “You didn’t even know me.”
“I know,” she said, confusion reflected on her face, “but that’s the weirdest thing. From the first day we met I felt this…pull…and I knew if I were to ever get married you were the one I’d want to be with.” She must have seen the disbelief on his face because she continued, “I could have married anyone, Stone. I could have picked a man from the street and married him. But…I wanted to fall in love. And I wanted the man I married…to love me, too.”